In the CIAA, Virginia Union’s loss to Lincoln University on Saturday hurt, but the Panthers still had a chance to catch up with first-place Elizabeth City on Wednesday night in Richmond. The back to back losses halted Union’s momentum going into the final week of the regular season before the CIAA Tournament, which gets underway in Charlotte on February 26th. The Vikings came into Richmond tied with Lincoln University and one game ahead of the Panthers. VUU is now in a tie for third with arch-rival Virginia State, who clobbered Bowie State Wednesday might on the Hill in Petersburg. Both remain two games back in the pack.

In the MEAC, The Spartans of Norfolk State University continue to run rampant through the conference, going 12 – 0 this season and the question now is can NSU run the table. The Spartans win at arch rival Hampton University gave the Spartans eleven straight victories to improve to 17 – 10 with a date at Delaware State this weekend. Right on Norfolk’s heels are the Eagles of North Carolina Central University, who at 11 – 1, only trail NSU by one game with four games left. However, not one of the four is against NCCU. In fact, they did not and will not meet this season, UNLESS, they both wind up in the MEAC title game. Coincidently, that game would be played in the Norfolk Scope during March Madness.

As the Atlantic – 10 teams make the playoff push, the VCU Rams will find the going much tougher in the next couple of weeks after sitting atop the league standings practically all season long. As soon as we saw the Rams re-enter the national poll at No. 24, up comes the road game at Saint Louis, a team that was teetering around the edge of the Top 25 as well, and the Billikens took advantage of their home floor in trouncing VCU on Tuesday night. The Rams, 21 – 6, now have another big conference showdown looming next week with 15th-ranked Butler next week.

Meanwhile, the Spiders of UR defeated St. Bonaventure in overtime on Saturday at the Robins Center and have two of their remaining five games here in the Capital City, their next home game will be George Washington’s visit on February 27th. The Spiders are 15 – 11, and travel to New York to battle Fordham University on Saturday.